And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Date: Fri, 18 Jun 1999 09:55:17 -0400 From: "Day Starr (*No-qui-si*)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > http://www.ecocity.com/village/action_center/care_monsanto3-9-99.html > > -- > Richard Risemberg > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Living Room Urban Ecology webzine: http://www.living-room.org > "There is more to life than increasing its speed." (Gandhi) > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------ > [Image] > > RAFI News Release - 9 March 1999 > Rural Advancement Foundation International > http://www.rafi.org > > > *** MONSANTO - Handled with CARE? *** > *** or, CARE - Handled by MONSANTO? *** > > MAJOR U.S. RELIEF AGENCY HOLDS TALKS WITH TROUBLED > AGBIOTECH MULTINATIONAL - WHO'S HELPING WHO? > > > CARE, the high-profile U.S. food aid non-profit, is holding talks today > with Monsanto Corporation at the company's world headquarters in St. Louis, > Missouri (US). According to information received by RAFI, Monsanto's CEO > Robert Shapiro contacted CARE's President, Peter Bell, inviting CARE > officials to discuss ways in which Monsanto may be able to use its > technologies for the benefit of food security in the South. Whether this is > an attempt to resurrect Monsanto's scheme to provide micro-credit ("soft") > loans to Third World farmers in order to market its proprietary pesticides > and genetically-modified seeds remains to be seen. > > Monsanto is one of the world's leading Gene Giants - dominant in both crop > chemicals and seeds. The company's best known product, Roundup > (glyphosate), is the world's top selling herbicide and a multi-billion > dollar profit engine for Monsanto. The company's patents on Roundup are > expiring, however, and Monsanto is looking for new ways to maintain its > market share and to advance sales of its controversial transgenic > (genetically-modified) soybean, maize, cotton, and potato varieties. Using > genetic engineering, Monsanto has bred seeds that tolerate Roundup > spraying. It is estimated that the contentious market strategy has won > Monsanto at least 85% of the booming U.S. transgenic seed market, and > experts suggest, a similar share of the global transgenic market. > > * Cash 'n CARE? In June 1998, Monsanto announced that it would develop a > special microcredit programme with the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh that > would have made it financially feasible for cash-starved farmers to take > out loans to buy Monsanto's advanced technology products. The Grameen Bank > has won international accolades for its championing of credit programmes to > rural women who would not normally be seen as credit-worthy by conventional > banks. Within a month of the Monsanto-Grameen announcement, however, the > Bangladeshi institution cancelled the deal bowing to intense public > pressure within South Asia and around the world. > > * Once More with Feeling? "At the time, we heard rumours that CARE and > possibly some other development aid agencies were discussing similar deals > with Monsanto" Pat Mooney, RAFI's executive director says, "but we were > told that CARE backed away from the table when Grameen threw in the towel." > "Now we are informed that an international team of CARE officials from > their New York office, but also from some of their major regional offices, > have gone to St. Louis to discuss a major initiative with Monsanto," Mooney > adds, "This could be a real problem." > > GMO's in Every Pot? Last year, more than 27.8 million hectares of farmland > around the world was sown to genetically modified crops. Seventy seven > percent of this land was sown to transgenic seeds designed to tolerate > herbicide spraying. While the biggest market for biotech seed is in the USA > and Canada, South countries such as Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, and > China have also adopted the controversial seeds. Trials of Monsanto's > transgenic seeds in India have led to mass demonstrations and intense > debate in the media and in government. Similar debates are underway in > Brazil. In Europe, environmentalists, farmers, and consumers have joined > together to oppose the use of transgenic seeds. > > * GMO's Handled by CARE? Blocked in Europe, is Monsanto trying to use > well-known aid agencies to win acceptance for its GMOs among farmers and > consumers in the South? "Monsanto officials genuinely believe they have > products that will solve the problem of food shortages in the next > century," Hope Shand of RAFI says. "The company may not be acting > cynically. They believe they can make money and solve hunger through GMOs > at the same time," Shand explains, "If the meeting with CARE is to use the > food aid agency to test and distribute their genetically-altered seeds > among poor farmers, both CARE and Monsanto are making a terrible mistake." > What exactly the goal is for the St. Louis talks? Are they to establish > soft loan programmes tied to Monsanto products, or to use CARE's field > offices to facilitate trials of genetically-engineered herbicide-tolerant > seeds? "Either way," Pat Mooney concludes, "neither party has the > credibility to pull this venture off. CARE will be lambasted for > jeopardizing the food security of farmers and Monsanto will be accused of > using CARE as 'cheap labour' for its commercial goals. Whatever their > intent, this indeed will be the result. I've talked with CARE negotiators > in New York and I'm hopeful that they understand the issues and will not > let their good name be used to pressure farmers into adopting Monsanto's > unsustainable approach to agriculture." > > CARE Bears? Monsanto is transforming itself from being a traditional > chemical company into a dominant player in the Life Industry. In recent > years, Monsanto has spent more than $8.5 billion in acquiring seed > companies across the world. Many market analyst believe however, that > Monsanto has over-extended itself and is now weighed under by a huge debt > burden. In the midst of the world's longest running bull market, Monsanto > is on some investor's bear lists. Last year, Monsanto announced that it > would merge with American Home Products - another chemicals-turned-biotech > corporation more than twice Monsanto's size. The deal was eventually called > off. Last week, the New York Times reported that Monsanto was holding > preliminary discussions with DuPont - a vastly larger multinational now > attempting to extricate itself from energy subsidiaries in order to buy > into the Life Industry. The message to many investors is that Monsanto is a > company in trouble and looking for allies. > > ------ > > Monsanto, headquarters in St. Louis, Missouri (US) has 32,000 employees, a > market capitalization of $28 billion and 1998 revenues of $9 billion. The > company is reportedly in merger discussions with DuPont. > > CARE, headquarters in New York (US) is a major non-profit, international > relief organization. In 1998, CARE delivered $339 million in aid to over > 35.3 million people in 51 countries. > > RAFI, the Rural Advancement Foundation International, is an international > civil society organization headquartered in Canada. RAFI is dedicated to > the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, and to the socially > responsible development of technologies useful to rural societies. RAFI is > concerned about the loss of agricultural biodiversity, and the impact of > intellectual property on farmers and food security. > > For More Information: > > Pat Mooney Hope Shand > Executive Director, RAFI Director of Research, RAFI > 110 Osborne Street, Suite 202 Centre for Public Service > WINNIPEG MB R3L 1Y5 Gettysburg College > CANADA Box 2456 > Tel: (204) 453-5259 GETTYSBURG PA 17325 > Fax: (204) 925-8034 USA > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (717) 337-6482 > Fax: (717) 337-6499 > E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Back To The Blanket Journal: http://www.angelfire.com/biz/BackToTheBlanket Heroine Mu Gui-Ying http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/7111 Reprinted under the fair use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
